Franklin asks Daughters of the Confederacy to 'admit they don't own the square' in new filing

The City of Franklin has requested the lawyer for the United Daughters of the Confederacy prove the group's claims of ownership and annotate why it doesn't want African-American historical markers on the square.(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

The City of Franklin has requested the lawyer for the United Daughters of the Confederacy prove the group's claims of ownership and annotate why it doesn't want African-American historical markers on the square.

The request — sent to attorney Doug Jones — is just the latest in a six-month legal saga over ownership of the land in downtown Franklin. City of Franklin attorney Shauna Billingsley sent the request Feb. 8.

On Tuesday night, Franklin aldermen decided the schematic drawing of locations for the markers was appropriate to officially vote on later this month. Two of the five markers would go in the center of the public square on the sidewalk in the roundabout, feet from where the UDC Confederate monument has stood since 1899.

A judgment suit over the square happened as a result of the UDC threatening to sue the city if any markers were put on property it claimed to own.

What the city is asking

In the 36-page filing, the city asked the United Daughters of the Confederacy to answer 25 questions about the group's claims of ownership.

Those questions include asking the UDC to provide proof of purchase agreements or deeds to the public square. Currently, no deed exists for the property in the Williamson County Property Assessor's office. Former historian and UDC member Virginia Bowman, who died in 2018, noted in a 1997 court affidavit that no deed had ever been found for the monument.

She added that she believed the families of two UDC members purchased land for the square in 1899 and 1907. No records of purchase for either exist in the Williamson County Register of Deeds office. The city is requesting the UDC's legal team provide those documents as well.

She requested that the group also answer in detail its opposition to the markers, which would depict African-American history that happened on the public square, some of which took place before the Civil War.

'Erasure of American history'

In the filing, Billingsley referenced an article from the Courthouse News Service in which both attorneys discussed the case.

She asked for Jones to explain when the city has ever requested the removal of the monument from the public square. As quoted in the article, Jones said the monument was more than just something for the women in the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Jones added that it was also a "conspiracy" against the UDC for the markers to go up. He said the city had never consulted the group about the markers. Stuckey has disputed that claim publicly since September in various Board of Mayor and Aldermen meetings.

'Admit the square isn't yours'

Other than request of facts for discovery, Billingsley also requested an oath of admissions from the UDC.

Of those questions, she asked that the group admit that the square didn't belong to it and that the only suggestion of ownership was minutes from the 1899 quarterly court.

She also requested that the group admit it does not own the sidewalk or the land under the pavers in the square. And she asked for the organization to admit it hadn't paid property taxes, possessed a deed for the land or "wished for any display related to the African-American experience."

Billingsley said in the filing that the group has 30 days to respond. In Friday's filing from the UDC, the group asked for a judge to rule in its favor in March.

Reach Emily West at erwest@tennessean.com or 615-613-1380 and on Twitter at @emwest22.